Mumbai city news: Muskan, a student of Hutching’s high school, scored 99.4% in the ICSE exam, the results of which were announced on Monday. She shared the top spot with Bangalore’s Ashwin Rao

ICSE joint topper Muskan Pathan with her parents in Pune on Monday.(HT photo)

Muskan Abdullah Pathan, the ICSE national topper from Pune, said she did not believe she had scored so well until she cross-checked her marks on a dozen websites.

Muskan, a student of Hutching’s high school, scored 99.4% in the ICSE exam, the results of which were announced on Monday. She shared the top spot with Bangalore’s Ashwin Rao.

Muskan told Hindustan Times she had never imagined she would top the exam.

“I was never in the Top 10 until Class 8 in school. So today, when I was told I had topped, it was not easy to believe,” Muskan said.

Muskan said she wanted to pursue medicine, like her mother. Her father is an IT engineer in Mumbai.

Muskan’s mother Shakira said her daughter studied five hours a day while preparing for the exam. “We never pressurised her to study. In fact, she would go play for a few hours when she got bored of her books.” Muskan said she has joined classes to start preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance test (NEET).